For me, one of the scariest parts of my diagnosis with breast cancer was the challenge of keeping life as normal as possible for my two young daughters.
Close your eyes for a moment and just say that as many times as it takes to sink in. Love. Never. Fails. It immediately brought my mind to all of the people I know who are right now battling cancer.
Cancer can take your strength, or your leg, or your breast, or your hope. It can also take your soul if you let it. Do whatever you have to do to keep that from happening. Get up... again, and again, and again.
A golden rule that we learned in kindergarten is still a golden rule: Honesty is the best policy. Both of my boys, ages 6 and 4, know that I had cancer, and they know that I have to get checked every year to make sure that it doesn't come back.
The holidays can be a difficult time for those of us who have lost a loved one to cancer. Cancer can take away all the joyful child-like innocence and magic of Christmas, if we let it. Can such a fathomless hole in the heart ever be filled? Yes, I believe it can be... eventually.
How I handle metastatic cancer matters. "Doing it right" doesn't mean I have to be positive all the time. But it means I have to be honest.
